John Mitchell

Posted:
Friday, July 27, 2012, 2:33 PM

The Sixers on Friday officially signed veteran point guard Royal Ivey to a one-year veteran minimum deal ($1.23 million).

Why?

The Sixers apparently don’t really place a high value on backing up point guard Jrue Holiday because they have confidence in Evan Turner to play on the ball offensively for stretches during the season. Sixers coach Doug Collins’ offense also allows for Andre Iguodala to dominate the ball at times.

Whether this is sound philosophy or not is questionable. However, the hope is that if Holiday does suffer an injury that keeps him sidelined for a significant amount of time, Ivey will be able to step in and give the team competent play at the point.

Ivey, 30, an eight-year vet, spent the last two seasons in Oklahoma City. During his career, Ivey has started 109 games and averaged 3.4 points and 1.1 assists per game. This is his second stint with the Sixers, who signed him in 2008 as a free agent and later traded him along with Primoz Brezec and a second round pick to Milwaukee in exchange for Francisco Elson and Jodie Meeks on February 18, 2010.

Keith Pompey has been an Inquirer reporter since September 2004 and took over the Sixers beat in the summer of 2013 after covering Temple basketball and football for the previous three years.

Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between.